The Insane Clown Posse has filed a lawsuit against the FBI for classifying their fan base as a gang. / Insane Clown Posse

by Natalie DiBlasio, USA TODAY

by Natalie DiBlasio, USA TODAY

The Insane Clown Posse hip-hop duo has filed a lawsuit against the FBI after the agency classified their followers as a gang.

Band members Joseph Bruce aka Violent and Joseph Utsler aka Shaggy 2 Dope say they filed the lawsuit on behalf of their fans - dubbed "Juggalos" - because their constitutional rights to expression and association were violated when the government "wrongly and arbitrarily classified the entire fan base as a hybrid criminal gang."

The ACLU joined the suit on Wednesday. "The Juggalos are fighting for the basic American right to freely express who they are, to gather and share their appreciation of music, and to discuss issues that are important to them without fear of being unfairly targeted and harassed by police," says Michael J. Steinberg, ACLU of Michigan legal director. "Branding hundreds of thousands of music fans as gang members based on the acts of a few individuals defies logic and violates our most cherished of constitutional rights."

The federal government estimates that there are more than a million Juggalos in the USA. FBI analysts labeled the group a gang in the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment after an investigation of law enforcement and media reports of crimes committed by people wearing "Juggalo" tattoos and clothing.

The reports said that Juggalos have been responsible for assaults, robberies, child porn and murder and have been associated with crimes including discharge of a firearm, drug sales, drug possession and child endangerment

The Insane Clown Posse says that in any group there will be members that break the law, but that's not a reflection of the group as a whole - even if the criminal is wearing Juggalos symbol.

The U.S. Justice Department has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit.